Amylix Targets Market Ahead of Therapy Launch for Condition Affecting 8% of Bariatric Surgery Patients

Amylix has launched a patient education website ahead of the release of a treatment for a rare complication of metabolic and bariatric surgery, beginning its efforts to build the market in advance.

According to U.S. biotech publication Fierce Pharma on the 31st local time, Amylix officially launched “Uncover PBH,” an educational website designed to help patients better understand postbariatric hypoglycemia (PBH). The move comes ahead of phase 3 clinical results for avexitide, the company’s investigational PBH treatment, which are expected to be announced in the third quarter of this year.

PBH is a rare condition that occurs 1 to 3 years after metabolic and bariatric surgery, with an estimated 160,000 patients in the United States. It develops in approximately 8% of patients who undergo metabolic and bariatric surgery and can cause seizures, cognitive impairment and loss of consciousness, along with severe hypoglycemia. No treatments have been approved to date.

Amylix’s investigational drug avexitide acts as a GLP-1 receptor antagonist. The company developed the website to help potential patients understand their symptoms and manage the condition ahead of the phase 3 results.

The website visualizes disease symptoms in the form of “clue” cards and provides various resources, including interviews with actual patients, frequently asked questions (FAQ) and a symptom tracker. The goal is to narrow the gap between the symptoms patients experience and an actual diagnosis.

Josh Cohen, co-CEO of Amylix, said, “Patients say that simply receiving a PBH diagnosis helps them regain a sense of control over their lives,” explaining why “providing accurate information is important.” He added that it “could also help prevent PBH patients from being mistaken for having diabetes when they are taken to the emergency department because of severe hypoglycemia.”

Founded in 2013, Amylix commercialized the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatment Relyvrio but voluntarily withdrew it from the market in 2024 after a confirmatory trial failed. Since then, the company has focused on rare diseases with high unmet medical needs, including PBH and Wolfram syndrome.